No indication of ‘July effect’ in context of cardiac surgery

(HealthDay)—In the context of cardiac surgery, there is no indication of a “July effect,” describing worse outcomes in the first month of training, according to a study published online July 25 in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

The researchers found that even after risk adjustment, there was no variation in in-hospital mortality by procedure month or academic year quartile for each procedure. For CABG and isolated TAA replacement, teaching status did not influence risk-adjusted mortality. For AVR and MV surgery, however, significantly lower adjusted mortality was seen in teaching hospitals versus nonteaching hospitals.

“Cardiac surgery patients are managed in a multidisciplinary fashion; therefore, the well-being of patients is not solely dependent on one individual, but rather on the entire caregiving team and so may be more resistant to changes in hospital staff,” Shah said in a statement.